West Ham January transfer target Demba Ba has signed for Besiktas on loan until the end of the season.

Boss Slaven Bilic admitted on Tuesday morning that he approached the former Hammers striker three weeks ago for a potential loan move from Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua.

Ba, who scored seven goals in 12 games for West Ham in 2011, was interested in a move to the London Stadium but told Bilic that he wouldn’t be fit until March, having suffered a horrific broken leg against Shanghai SIPG last July.

Hammers supremo David Sullivan admitted this morning the club had made an unsuccessful move, saying: “We looked to bring Demba Ba back in this window but were told he was 3 weeks from playing after recovering from his injury."

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Bilic later added: “I definitely would have taken Demba Ba on a short loan, he has proved himself in the Premier League. I spoke to him on the phone a few weeks ago and the problem was that he had a bad injury and told me that he would be fit in March. That's too late."

The Hammers have been on the striker hunt for the entire January window, mainly with Scott Hogan, but pulled the plug on a deal last night after Bilic decided against making the £15m move, despite the Hammers board wanting to bring Hogan to east London.